Lovebirds mating and plucking issue

[Bernadette G]

I just realized today that I have a problem. I aquired a pair of true peach faced loves. They were mating so I added a nestbox. They laid an egg. One egg. I check the egg and it had a chick developing in it. Then one day the egg disappeared.

I witnessed them mating several times in the last couple weeks. There is another egg. All of a sudden the one bird is pretty much bare chested and the other one has a couple bald spots. I have not heard any fighting or noise coming from them, so it did not appear they were fighting.

I have never had any plucking issues. I do not believe they have mites or the like because I have other birds and they are fine. The lovebirds reside next door to a pair of tiels. They are in a brand new cage, a brand new nest box and appeared to be healthy and happy up until now.

I do not know what to do and feel I should be doing something. I was planning in the morning to mist them. I did not want to do it in the night, I wanted to wait until the house was warm in the morning and the normal bathing time.

I feel guilty for not knowing what to do. All of my other birds are fine. I have quite a few birds and they do not share these issues.

Any Advice. I cannot take them to the vet until Monday.

B.

[Lori~D]

Some breeding pairs do overpluck a little when nesting. Its natural to pluck some from the chest for lining the nest and some new parents may do it a bit much. I would ask the vet but if you want the babies I would NOT move them while they have the egg or you will surley lose it. They sound like inexpirienced parents. They ate the first egg. It happens with new parents. It can be heartbreaking but Not at all abnormal. Have you ever bred birds before? Is this planned? Do you intend to handfeed the babies?
Misting is fine and you can offer lovebirds a sheet of clean paper to nest with and they might pluck less.
What kind of nesting material did you give them? Lovebirds love to tear the paper into strips (themselves) and they will tuck the strips into there feathers on there bum and carry them back to the box. Its cute as heck to watch.

[Flappuccino]

Hi! Great advice from huntress.
I would just add that often times the female will pluck the chest and belly feathers to get closer contact and more warmth for her eggies. It's called a brood patch.
If they are inexperienced parents, too much peeking and interest by humans can make them afraid something will hurt their babies. Some would rather destroy the eggs, rather than a predator getting to them. Even tame lovies can exhibit his behavior.
Carefresh is an excellent nesting material, as is newspaper, and unscented kleenex and paper towels.
Are you prepared to handfeed in an emergency? If so, you'll want to stay away from Exact. Some people are lucky, but ever since they changed the formula a year or so ago, many are seeing deaths from dehydration and lack of nutrient absorption.
Good luck with the eggies!

[Bernadette G]

I am a hobbiest breeder. I started out with my original pair of Peached Faced Dutch Blues. When they laid their first eggs, I had no clue what I was doing. I toted those babies down to the petshop that bred birds. The nice lady there taught me how to handfeed my babies. Don't ask me how many times I toted that aquarium down there!

They have been breeding for two years now. I have 2 pairs of cockatiels that gave me babies and I was taught how to feed them.

I am fascinated with lovebirds very much so. I just love them so much. I do get quite a bit of enjoyment caring for the babies. I just do it for a hobby as I am ill and unable to work anymore, so the birds give me a reason to wake up in the morning.

I have fallen in love with the Violet Factor loves and I did recently purchase 2 proven pair and am not going to set them up until spring, as I am sure they have already bred this year and certainly do not want to over breed them.

I have tried to educate myself as much as possible regarding the lovebirds. I have lurked on these boards here regarding lovebirds and cockatiels. I have made friends with several bird breeders and have picked their brains as much as they would allow.

I do believe these birds have bred before. When I aquired them I believe that a little female was one of their offspring. She was about 6 monhs old. Some one could not care for the birds any longer and I took in two pair, the pair in question and the baby and a very handtamed white faced dutch blue.

When they arrived, there was evidence of something that had occured before they got here. They had a lot of grey feathers growing in on the chests of each of the birds. I assumed it was either some kind of molting or possible plucking. All the feathers grew back and they both looked pretty good.

They had started chewing up the paper from the cage bottom, literally pulling it up from under the bottom grate. Once I reaized this, I naturally thought they were trying to build a nest. I went and got them a brand new cage capable of handling a nesting box, of which I got them a brand new one.

I put some pine shavings in the bottom of the nestbox and a supply of newspaper for them to finish the nest to their liking. Then what followed was the laying of one egg, the disappearnce of that egg, and note I did check that egg and there was a baby formingn in it.

These birds are up high and I only peeked in the nest box a few times..not on a daily basis and I gave them their privacy. They were not harrassed, or bothered, or threatened..or made to feel threatened. The cage was not moved.

I witnessed them mating several times in the past couple of weeks. Then all of a sudden, my beautiful birds appear to be plucked to shreds. This is very upsetting to me. It kinda appeared overnight. I am in utter disbelief. I have read about these things happening. Well, it has happened to me and I just feel like i should be doing something.

I guess it could be the stress of the breeding process. If this is the way they are going to act, this will be the last time I allow them to breed. I am only doing this for my pleasure and I will not allow birds to be harmed, even if the harm is self created.

I feel horrible. What can I do to alleviate their pain? Help the feathers grow back? Make it easier?

Should I wait and see if they are done laying eggs? I do not want the female to become egg bound or anything. What if I took the nest box away and she is not done laying eggs?

I want what is best for the birds. It does not matter to me whether they breed or not. I enjoy them when they are just being birds.

So yes, I do know how to handfeed. I have other people with grand bird breeding experience to rely on for help and advice. I do have an Avian vet. I have only been doing this for 2 years and this is only the second pair of lovebirds that have laid eggs for me. I do not care whether they remain a breeding pair or not. It is not about them being able to give me babies. It is about the birds themselves.

I just feel I should be doing something. Would more toys put in the cage give them something else to do to take their mind off of the plucking? Anything I can put in the bathwater to help the feathers grow back?

I am open to all ideas that would work to help my poor birds. I feel so horrible.

bern

[Flappuccino]

I did not mean to insinuate that you were being threatening to your birds... only that they are new to you and may FEEL threatened. This is what happened to one of my brother-in-law's pairs. He was so curious about the new eggies that he checked on them all the time. The cage was also near a window where the pair could see the wild birds at the feeder outside. Anyway, once he moved the cage and gave the pair more privacy, they did fine.
Aspen shavings are great to use, but pine shavings are not as good for them. I think it's something to do with the oils and respiratory problems.
Aloe juice is a great addition to bath water. It is sold in most health food stores.
Lovies like any shreddable toys, and things that make alot of noise. My hen's current favorite is, of all things, a set of plastic measuring spoons I hung from the top of the cage. She loves to attack them with gusto, then she plays in them and lets them rub all over her. It's pretty funny.
Have they been vetted since you got them? A check-up may be in order, also for the sake of your other birds.
If you don't necessarily want babies, you can replace them with fake, or boil them (within 12 hrs of being lain) and give them back after they cool.
I hope the plucking isn't anything serious and that they're all better soon.

[Bernadette G]

I was not taking any offense. I just wanted to state, I do have a couple of tiel parents that let me know under no uncertain terms that I need to stay out of their nestboxes and leave them alone. They seem to be very protective of those eggs.

The story with these particular birds is that they were on the top shelf of a bakers rack and it was an ordeal just to get up to look in the nest box.

I brought the cage down today. I have been creating an aviary in a spare bedroom for the bulk of my birds. I have them in there now at eye level.

I did notice that the feathers are starting to grow back. I looked in the nest box and did notice that the box was lined with their feathers..so they did put them to good use. I do not feel it was unnecesary plucking. I guess they just overdid it a bit.

I have a bathtub for them to use. They do look way better than when I first posted this. I was feeling so bad for them. It was down right raw.

I have not had this experience with my other lovebirds. I am understanding that all birds are different.

I am kinda smug with myself though!!! I was finally able to bond a pair of singles that I have. A big fat Aust Cin hen with a white faced dutch. They are like two peas in a pod now. They did move into the same cage together. I do not shut the door though. In the event a fight happens I want them to be able to come out of there. I keep the door shut on my bird room. The only problem is that the hen, Rainbow..she is a trip!! She likes to go and visit all the other birds. It is kinda funny. It was not so bad when I had just my tiels in there, but since I moved a few lovebird cages in there, She is Miss Welcome Wagon. I can tell it upsets Chico, but they did end up back in their cage for nighty nite.

I hope it is this easy when I find a mate for my gal Rambler. She is one of my babies from my very first clutch of loves.

Now I have another problem. My loves already had their clutches for the year and I pulled the nest box around 2.5 months ago or so. She laid an egg inside the cage. I do not want her to have another clutch this year. I guess I might need to get some of those plastic eggs. For her own health, I do not want her laying a bunch of eggs and having another clutch. I will start covering their cage earlier in the evening and cut her daylite.

I have read all the advice given for bird that one does not want to lay eggs and breed. I do not want her to be come calcium deficient etc; I want her to be healthy for spring.

Also, When I ask for advice, pease do not be afraid of offending me. I do not offend easily and everyone's opinions are different.

Bern :)

[shosh]

Hi Bernadette...my lovie just laid a bunch of eggs and I am one of those who doesn't want her to have babies...
I was advised to boil or freeze the eggs...which I did. Kind of gross because they crack! I froze them and put them at the bottom of the cage....she's ignoring them and has stopped laying. She laid 5 eggs all over the place..3 at the bottom of her cage, 1 in her food dish, and 1 outside the cage, behind my bedroom bureau! Anyhow, not sure if she was just DONE laying or if freezing them and leaving them there stopped her. I had just removed the first 3 and she kept laying so I decided to do the freezing thing.
I would certainly go that route....easier than the plastic eggs and finding those of the right size can be difficult ( and some sites are very expensive.)

[Bernadette G]

So if I freeze them, I am guessing I would have to wait until they were room temperature or run them under warm water before putting them back/

I really do not want her raising another clutch this year..see, she already had 3 clutches this year. They laid eggs again and I let her keep them. Two hatched and died within a week. This all happened during my hysterectomy and I just figured...they had made it that far so let them be. But when the babies died, I decided she was done for the year. No more til spring.

I am concerned with her health. I certainly do not want her breeding herself to death. I know it takes a lot out of them to raise the babies. I usually so not pull the babies until they kick the first one out for the father to teach it to eat. That is when I pull all of the babies. I do not believe in pulling the babies at a young age as I understand some breeders do.

I am with the idea of the babies getting all the nutrients the parents can give them in the first 3 weeks of their life, like with humans. The nutrients the parents give them are what they need. I have not found any difference in the temperment of the chicks no matter what age I pull them.

When I had a car accident in March, I had to wait to pull the babies because I was so injured in the accident. I did not have any issues with the babies being hand tamed.

They usually only give me 2 or 3 babies, and they only had 3 chicks twice. Usually it is only 2. The birds are only 3 years old. They are also still handtamed.

When I took the nestbox out, after a week or so, I let them out of the cage and the male, who was always a bit more tame than the female, he came to me and sat on a perch in my hand and she follows him everywhere. He let me pet him. I want to keep them as tame as I can, because I do plan on having them as handtamed pets when I stop them from breeding completely.

The Peach faces are looking better and better each day that passes. No more eggs though. I have no idea their age. I just wonder why they only lay one egg at a time.

I do appreciate all the advice. I do love my lovebirds. There is just something about them. They are so darn sweet and loving. I love to cuddle with them. I cry each and every time I sell on of my precious little babies.

My goal and desires are breeding the Violets. I just bought a pair that the male is a DFV and mom is a single factor pied. I also got a pair that is Slate and Olive. I got a single male and am looking for a female violet of breeding age. I may have found one, but the price is steep and it is going to be a good hike to go pick her up.

I am into the Whitefaced and Pearl tiels and the Violet loves. I have a pair of Quakers that seem to be hanging out in the nestbox so I am hoping for a clutch.

Aside from feeding various forms of egg, and the powdered egg protein food and sprinkling powdered calcium over their food, are they any other human foods I can give them to promote a good level of calium in their diet, since the egg laying will deplete her?

[Flappuccino]

lots of green veggies- collard greens are best, followed by kale and broccoli as far as calcium goes.

[shosh]

my guys aren't fond of collard or kale but devour swiss chard, which is also very high in calcium and vitamin A.